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VISION workplace violence research and resources

 

This page sets out the research carried out within the VISION socio-economic inequalities thread, led by Professor Vanessa Gash with Dr Niels Blom. The workstream covers violence experienced at work AND violence experienced at home that follows people into work.

 

Summary

Many of us, at some point in our working lives, will experience difficult or harmful behaviours from others, including violence at home or at work. Some people get the support they need to recover. For many others the effects are lasting: damaged health, time out of work, job loss, and long-term financial harm. Yet although violence at work and violence at home are both common, we know very little about what they do to people’s working lives. This research programme sets out to close some of those gaps.

 

The challenges this research addresses

Data gaps

Very few representative datasets record employment and labour market status alongside exposure to violence, so the two are rarely studied together.

Unknown costs

The UK does not currently measure the productivity losses attributed to workplace violence and current costs of domestic violence do not examine the risks of job loss. We show that approximately 4% of victim-survivors of intimate partner violence have lost their job due to this violence, while this is almost 10% for violence by co-workers, and just over 1% of violence by service-users.

Research is siloed with uneven coverage

The vast majority of research on workplace violence is focused on one sector, mostly on health workers’ exposure to service user violence. This is important research but re-enforces sub-sectoral solutions, instead of national strategies.

We therefore examined prevalence across all industrial sectors using a nationally representative data, rather than sector specific samples, which was highlighted as key to research in the field in a recent Editorial.

Similar issues of uneven coverage were apparent in the available literature on the employment consequences of intimate partner violence. We found much of the evidence based on non-representative samples, specific to the United States. These may offer limited insights for different national and cultural contexts, including differences by ethnicity or socioeconomic class. Furthermore, we found limited data on perpetration or systematic analyses of different risks for women and men.

Measuring violence

Understandably, people often do not want to disclose their experiences of violence or abuse, which means survey questions must be designed and tested with great care. Our research showed that survey questions regarding violence exposure, including feeling unsafe, used in the Crime Survey for England and Wales compared to Understanding Society survey, led to some different risk profiles for different groups.

 

The impact of our research

Taken up in evidence to Government and Parliament

Findings on the employment consequences of domestic abuse were presented to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Domestic Violence and Abuse, the Work and Pensions Committee, and to Home Office Violence Against Women and Girls and domestic abuse teams. The research therefore contributed timely evidence to parliamentary forums regarding workplace support for victim-survivors and safeguarding vulnerable claimants, as well as informing the costings of domestic abuse.

Our findings on the prevalence of workplace violence, its mental health effects, and the employment consequences of intimate partner violence were submitted as part of written evidence to the House of Lords Social Mobility Policy Committee (SMP0044, 2025). The submission drew on the findings to argue that violence is a barrier to social mobility, and to call for better enforcement of existing regulation, confidential reporting channels and access to leave for recovery. This moved the evidence beyond occupational health and criminal justice, and into debates about opportunity and employment policy.

Informing national measurement beyond the UK

Our assessment of the violence measures in Understanding Society and the Crime Survey for England and Wales is cited in Measuring the Prevalence of Adult Sexual Violence in Ireland (ESRI, 2025), an evidence review commissioned by Cuan, Ireland’s statutory agency for domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, and published by the Irish government, to inform the design of Ireland’s forthcoming national prevalence surveys.

A new workplace violence module

Professor Gash is Principal Investigator on a new battery of workplace violence indicators fielded through the Understanding Society Innovation Panel; it will uniquely provide researchers with the ability to examine workplace violence within a longitudinal format on a representative national sample. A programme of working papers follows from it.

Better national measurement

The team proposed amendments to the Understanding Society mainstage adult questionnaire regarding items on harassment and violence, fielded at three-year intervals, to better capture violence at work. These will be adopted from 2028 onwards.

Guidance shaped with people with lived experience

We co-produced employer-facing guidance on workplace violence safeguarding with people who have experienced violence at work, so that what we recommend to employers reflects what victim-survivors say they need.

Fragmented Evidence

Most research on workplace violence is focused on one sector, mostly on health workers’ exposure to service user violence. This is important research but re-enforces sub-sectoral solutions, instead of national strategies. We have shown prevalence across all industrial sectors using a nationally representative data rather than sector specific samples,which was highlighted as key to systemic change (Jaspers, S., Karlsen, I. and Aust, B. (2025) ‘Workplace violence: a complex challenge demanding a systemic response’, Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 51(5), pp. 349–354. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.4249).

 

Policy briefs

  1. Gash, Vanessa; Blom, Niels (2026). Criminal Workplace Victimisation, Job Loss and Reporting in England and Wales. City St George’s, University of London. Report. https://doi.org/10.25383/city.32760954
  2. Blom N. & Gash, V. (2026). Examining the Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on Job Loss and Time Off Work. City St George’s, University of London. Report. https://doi.org/10.25383/city.32090710
  3. Gash V. & Blom N. (2024). Violence in the Workplace in the United Kingdom: Business and Individual-Level Exposure. City St George’s, University of London. Report. https://doi.org/10.25383/city.27248124
  4. Blom, N. and Gash, V. (2024) ‘Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on Job loss and Time Off Work in the UK’, UKPRP VISION Policy Brief no.01, Violence and Society Centre, City St George’s, University of London. Violence in the workplace in the United Kingdom – City Vision
    •  The link directly above is for the blog of the 2024 report which was updated in 2026 and that revision is #2.

 

Published academic journal articles

  1. Gash, V, Blom, N. ‘Workplace violence and fear of violence: an assessment of prevalence across industrial sectors and its mental health effects’. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health 2025;51(5):370-379. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.4230
  2. Blom, N.; Gash, V. Measures of Violence within the United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Survey and the Crime Survey for England and Wales: An Empirical Assessment. Soc. Sci. 2023, 12, 649. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12120649

 

Illustrations created by Geisa D’Avo

Costing the mental health harms of sexual and physical violence in adulthood

The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Project showed that mental health disorders account for the greatest share of disease burden among survivors of intimate partner violence against females and of sexual violence against children. Economic costings of sexual violence in adulthood is often not costed and tends not to address the longer-term mental health harms despite the strong associations.

In the study, Costing the mental health harms of sexual and physical violence in adulthood: A prevalence-based analysis in England, VISION researchers Sally McManus, Ladan Hashemi, Anastasia Fadeeva, Niels Blom and Estela Capelas Barbosa, with Sylvia Walby, estimated the annual cost of experience of violence throughout adulthood, in terms of reduced quality of life and health service costs.

Data were analysed from multiple sources, including the probability sample Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey and service delivery costs. Results showed that the estimated cost of long-term reduced quality of life adults in England experienced because of violence during adulthood was £3767 million in 2019, with associated healthcare costs in that year of £4130 million. Costs of long-term lost quality of life and healthcare were evident in both women and men, although higher in women. Costs associated with combined sexual and physical violence were particularly high, the great majority of these costs resulting from experience of violence in women. Combined sexual and physical violence in women was associated with the highest cost per victim.

Both sexual and physical violence have sizeable and independent associations with long-term mental health and treatment and service use. Violence reduction has potential to reduce health service costs and increase population level quality of life.

Research Highlights

  • Economic costings rarely quantify long-term mental health harms of sexual violence in adulthood.
  • Both sexual and physical violence are associated with sizeable costs.
  • The costs result from long-term mental health harms as well as treatment and service use.
  • Most of the mental health related costs of violence fall to women.
  • Interventions that reduce violence have potential to reduce health service costs and improve quality of life.

To download the article:  Costing the mental health harms of sexual and physical violence in adulthood: A prevalence-based analysis in England

To cite: Sally McManus, Sylvia Walby, Ladan Hashemi, Anastasia Fadeeva, Niels Blom, Estela Capelas Barbosa, Costing the mental health harms of sexual and physical violence in adulthood: A prevalence-based analysis in England, Public Health, Volume 258, 2026, 106400, ISSN 0033-3506, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2026.106400.

For further information: contact Sally at sally.mcmanus@citystgeorges.ac.uk
 
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New VISION Policy Briefing Series on ethnicity inequalities and violence

In collaboration with Imkaan, the UK’s only national feminist umbrella organisation dedicated to addressing violence against Black and minoritsed women and girls, VISION Research Fellow, Dr Hannah Manzur, wrote two policies on the intersectionality of ethnicity, sex, gender, and violence focussing first on access to specialist services and second, through a systems theory approach.

The first policy briefing, Ethnic Inequalities in Violence Series: Specialist Services, is based on VISION research on ethnic inequalities, gendered violence, and specialist services. The research team finds critical inequalities in Black and minoritised women’s access to support and emphasises the need for a sustainably funded ‘By and For’ Sector.

The second policy briefing, Ethnic Inequalities in Violence Series: Systems Response, also uses VISION research on ethnic inequalities but looks at violence risks, harms, and service responses from a systems theory approach. This briefing identifies compounding disadvantages, intersecting inequalities, and critical gaps and disparities in victim-survivors’ services access and treatment.

 

Supporting Specialist Services for Black and Minoritised Women Victims of Violence: Access, Impact, & Resources

Specialist services provide life-saving support to people experiencing domestic and sexual violence, including trauma-informed and VAWG-sensitive care, counselling, legal and medical support, safety planning, advocacy, and crisis interventions delivered by trained caseworkers and practitioners. Led by Black and minoritised women, specialist ‘By and For’ services[1] are particularly important in offering essential holistic, wrap-around support, including intersectional advocacy, tailored to the specific needs and experiences of Black and minoritised women victim-survivors. Despite this, specialist services, particularly the ‘By and For’ sector, are constrained by chronic underfunding, limited inclusion and recognition of their expertise, and increased demand for services in an increasingly hostile political landscape for Black and minoritised communities and victim-survivors of violence.

Key Recommendations

  1. Funding: adequate, secured, and sustainable funding for specialist services with increased and ring-fenced ‘By and For’ funding.
  2. Recognition: formally recognise ‘By and For’ services as a distinct and essential model of VAWG prevention.
  3. No Recourse for Public Funds (NRPF): urgently repeal the NRPF condition.
  4. Data: introduce a data firewall for migrant victims, improve national ethnicity data, fund specialist services’ data-infrastucture projects, and engage ‘By and For’ expertise.
  5. Accessibility: evaluate national accessibility to specialist services, especially ‘By and For’ closures and reductions.
  6. Training: statutory services training in service provision tailored to Black and minoritised women victims.
  7. Collaboration: investment in collaborative partnerships, training, and referral protocols, led by ‘By and For’ expertise.

 

Ethnic Inequalities in Violence: Addressing Compounding Disadvantage and Institutional Engagement through a Systems Response to Violence

From data to policy to services, the systems designed to address the complex needs of violence victim-survivors of violence often fall short. Disjointed services, difficult pathways to support, and critical gaps in service provision create a complex system which victim-survivors, particularly those experiencing domestic and sexual violence, are expected to navigate to access support. For Black and minoritised victim-survivors of domestic and sexual violence, violence  causes and contexts, risks, harms, and support needs are shaped by both intersecting inequalities and compounding disadvantages. The combination of existing social disadvantages, under-funded and non-specialist public and specialist services, and disjointed and complex systems[2] requires urgently addressing from an intersectional and systems-based response to violence prevention and victim support.

Key Recommendations

  1. Systems-level responses: Targeted interventions and support provision must be integrated into a systems-level approach through cross-sectoral and multi-agency collaboration. Include funded advisory roles for specialist ‘By and For’ services representatives as systems leaders, not only referal partners.
  2. Build data and evidence linkages and expand cross-sectoral comparative research.
  3. Remove cross-sectoral barriers to support, including repealing the NRPF, introducing data-sharing firewalls, and enhance statutory duties.
  4. Invest in comparative and intersectional research which integrates multiple social contexts and axes of inequality.
  • [2] VISION’s systems theory approach was led by Dr Olumide Adisa. See for example: Adisa 2024, 2025.

 

To download the briefings:

To cite the Specialist Services briefing: Manzur, H. 2026. Supporting Specialist Services for Black and Minoritised Women Victims of Violence: A VISION Research and Policy Briefing in collaboration with Imkaan. London: VISION, Imkaan. https://doi.org/10.25383/city.33524527

To cite the Systems Response briefing: Manzur, H. 2026. Ethnic Inequalities in Violence: Addressing Compounding Disadvantage and Institutional Engagement through a Systems Response to Violence. A VISION Research & Policy Briefing in collaboration with Imkaan. London: VISION, Imkaan. https://doi.org/10.25383/city.33527260

For further information: contact Hannah at hannah.manzur.4@citystgeorges.ac.uk

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Too soon, too late: Understanding teenage relationship abuse through listening to young people’s voices

 

By Polina Obolenskaya and Annie Bunce, VISION Research Fellows

There is a growing recognition that children and young people experience harm in their romantic relationships, which often starts before they are 16 years old. Being on the cusp of adulthood makes teenage relationship abuse hard to spot, for both young people themselves and those who come in contact with them. While there have been some exemplary studies with young people in this area (e.g. by Barter et al. 2009; SafeLives), more research dedicated specifically to those under 16 is needed.

Therefore, we partnered with charity SafeLives and their network of young people who share a passion to end domestic abuse and tackle the social challenges facing today’s youth – the “Changemakers” – to run a consultation workshop with young people aged 18-25 who had experienced harm in intimate relationships when they were aged between 13 and 16.

The three overarching aims of this project were to gather young people’s perspectives on:

  1. The issues around providing effective support to young people with experience of abuse in romantic relationships, including its recognition, the complexities of help-seeking, and the adequacy of professional responses;
  2. The priorities for future research on teenage relationship abuse; and
  3. The appropriate methodological approaches for involving young people in this sort of research.

Our partnership with SafeLives and the Changemakers was at the heart of this project, they were instrumental in shaping the direction of the research from the beginning. We co-produced materials, the Changemakers facilitated the consultation workshop, we co-analysed some of the data, and their views informed how the findings were interpreted and written up. Having young people’s perspective challenged some of our assumptions and understanding, both of the topic and the research process itself. We worked collaboratively on a number of outputs, including an academic paper, a short report, an infographic, and presentations to a wide variety of audiences.

Below is a summary of some of our main findings from the project.

Harmful relationships are often difficult for young people to recognise

Young people told us that they thought it was difficult for those aged 13-16 to recognise harmful behaviours in teenage relationships. This is because these behaviours often become normalised- through peer groups, social media, popular culture and, for some, experiences of domestic abuse at home. Additionally, we heard that while young people might have recognised some behaviours as unhealthy at the time, they struggled to see the broader pattern or label it as abuse.

Professionals also struggle to identify harm in teenage relationships and their responses are inconsistent

Our participants described a range of experiences with various professionals, with the takeaway message being that responses to teenage relationship abuse are inconsistent. Some young people described teachers, police officers and support workers as people who listened carefully, took concerns seriously and made them feel supported. But at the same time, they had also encountered responses that felt dismissive or minimising, or they did not feel confident about approaching some professionals who might be able to help (e.g. teachers).

We found that the language used by the professionals was a barrier to identification of harm experienced by young people in their relationships, as well as its disclosure. Young people told us that when professionals use language and terms that they cannot relate to, it is harder for them to identify what is happening to them as abuse and/or it can discourage them from seeking help. We also heard that age-related stereotypes and a lack of awareness and understanding around abusive behaviours within teenage relationships further contribute to dismissive attitudes, with professionals attributing minimising labels, such as “teenage drama” to harmful behaviours. 

Young people want earlier intervention

Participants stressed the importance of earlier identification and intervention to address abuse in teenage relationships, particularly advocating for proactive efforts by teachers and schools. They also thought that changes in attendance, behaviour, or well-being should prompt teachers to investigate potential underlying issues. In fact, this inspired the project name, Too Soon, Too Late, which was developed by one of the Changemakers. The title reflects the experiences of teenagers who may struggle to access support at the point they really need it.

Our participants also acknowledged that the signs of abuse might be really difficult to spot. For example, they described how achieving good grades and appearing confident on the surface while struggling with significant difficulties in their relationships or home environment- what they referred to as the ‘good student’ stereotype- might lead teachers to assume they were OK.

Young people also told us how they think research could be done better

Participants described participating in research as potentially empowering and healing – being able to speak with others who had similar experiences helped some realise they were not alone. While our participants found participating in research rewarding in itself, they agreed that being renumerated is important, not only because it removes financial barriers but because it demonstrates that young people’s time and expertise are truly valued.

Young people told us that to ensure a more inclusive and intersectional understanding of teenage relationship abuse researchers need to actively engage a diverse range of participants, including those from marginalised communities, of different sexual orientations and gender identities, but also individuals who do not fit common stereotypes of victims-survivors of abuse and those without direct experience of abuse. They argued that researchers should proactively invite participation, via multiple streams, rather than relying on young people to seek out opportunities themselves.

Young people emphasised the importance of creating research environments that are safe, flexible and inclusive. They told us that they wanted a choice of different ways to participate, to receive clear communication and set realistic expectations, and to have opportunities to contribute to research after discussions had ended and they had had time to reflect on them. Language was again paramount here. Young people told us that for rapport to be built, for them to feel heard, and to enhance the overall quality of research, researchers need to speak to young people using their own language.

Another key message was that participation should not end at the end of data collection. Young people wanted to know how their contributions were being used and in what ways their involvement was making a difference. Being thanked, updated and shown the outcomes of research helped them feel like they had been part of something meaningful.

Conclusion

One of the strongest messages from this project is that to better understand young people’s experiences and help them, researchers and other professionals need to keep their eyes and ears to the ground and intervene early, provide a safe and inclusive environment for young people to share their stories, really listen to them and respond in their language, and take their experiences seriously. 

For further information: contact Polina at polina.obolenskaya@citystgeorges.ac.uk

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Domestic Violence and Abuse-Related Suicide: Evidence from Six Years of Irish Coronial Data

Domestic violence and abuse (DVA) and suicide are both major public health concerns, yet the relationship between them is less well understood. For people experiencing DVA, understanding their connection is key if support services and interventions are to respond effectively.

A new study, Domestic Violence and Abuse-Related Suicide: Evidence from Six Years of Irish Coronial Data, co-authored by Gemma Cox, Sarah Dangar, Katerina Kavalidou, and VISION researcher, Lizzie Cook, contributes new evidence to this emerging area of research. The study is the first in Ireland to examine the intersection between DVA and suicide using six years of national coronial data from the Irish Probable Suicide Deaths Study (IPSDS).

Using a mixed-methods approach, the study draws on coronial records of suicides to investigate the prevalence, circumstances, and characteristics where a link to DVA had been document. A total of 3622 cases of suicide were screened for evidence of DVA; of thse, 15 DVA-related suicides were identified, all of which were female. A series of composite narratives are used to highlight the complex interaction of factors shaping DVA and suicide.

The study highlights the importance of recognising DVA within wider suicide prevention efforts. However, it also raises important questions about how experiences of DVA are identified and recorded within coronial systems that investigates these deaths.

This paper will be of interest to researchers, clinicians, mental health professionals, domestic abuse practitioners, suicide prevention specialists, policymakers, coroners, voluntary and communtiy sector organisations, and others working across health, social care, and justic sectors.

To download the article in the Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine: Domestic violence and abuse-related suicide: evidence from six years of Irish coronial data

To cite: Cox G, Cook E, Dangar S, Kavalidou K. Domestic violence and abuse-related suicide: evidence from six years of Irish coronial data. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine. Published online 2026:1-8. doi:10.1017/ipm.2026.10220

For further information: contact Lizzie at elizabeth.cook@citystgeorges.ac.uk

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Sexual violence along migration routes: A qualitative systematic review and evidence synthesis

While all types of violence happen in the context of migration without state authorization, states have no directly tangible and clearly articulated incentives to protect migrants who travel in this way from violence. Migrants in transit, particularly those who travel informally without documents, are exceptionally vulnerable to exploitation from criminal gangs and smuggling networks, abuse by border forces, corrupt policing, and exposure to petty crime and violence during the journey.

The systems and structures that govern international migration without state authorisation create conditions of vulnerability for migrants, and sexual violence requires separate attention. Sexual violence in any context has unique causes and consequences and reporting follows distinct patterns, linked to different social meanings and gender dynamics. Thus, there is good reason for treating sexual violence differently from other more general forms of violence.

There is little or limited incentive for states to prevent sexual violence against migrants who might be travelling without authorization or be in the process of escaping adversity in their home state. These individuals who are not part of citizenry cannot easily call upon available mechanisms to report and seek support and retribution for crimes of sexual violence perpetrated against them. Yet, there is precedent to consider sexual violence an international ‘wrong’ and to advocate for the consolidation of action against it (for example in United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1825, which established sexual violence in conflict as warranting consolidated international action).

VISION researcher Alexandria Innes and Merili Pulleritis (City St George’s, University of London) conducted a systematic review and evidence synthesis to systematise and synthesize qualitative evidence of sexual violence experienced by migrants travelling without state authorization, during the course of their journeys. 

Their article, Sexual violence along migration routes: A qualitative systematic review and evidence synthesis, finds that sexual violence is widespread in the context of migration without state authorisation, and structurally embedded feature of undocumented migration. Findings were grouped around the six themes of agency, economics, climate of violence, normalisation of violence, perpetrators, and gender.

Data showed that migrant women expressed agency by adopting preventative or protective measures against expected sexual violence, at times including engagement in unwanted sexual contact. Economic deprivation intersected with sexual violence during migration journeys, increasing risk of sexual violence. The most severe cases of sexual violence were not mitigated by money. In some cases sexual violence victimisation was considered to be the only available way to prevent deportation or death.

Sexual violence was severe and indiscriminate, and included forced witnessing, and forced sex act perpetration on other migrants. Sexual violence along migration routes is executed by various types of perpetrators, including organised and systematic perpetration by state agents such as border guards and police, and by smuggling and trafficking gangs. Sexual violence is also carried out by opportunists who are often migrants in transit, or people who reside along the route. Sexual violence is used against men, women, trans and non-binary migrants, and people of all ages, but there are important gendered differences in the experience of sexual violence before and during a migration journey.

Sexual violence along irregular migration routes is an urgent issue demanding a response. Sexual violence is structurally embedded in the governance of international migration, suggesting the need for significant systemic change. This problem requires dedicated attention and resources directed towards prevention and protection.

To download the article: Sexual violence along migration routes: A qualitative systematic review and evidence synthesis

To cite: Innes, A., & Pullerits, M. (2026). Sexual violence along migration routes: A qualitative systematic review and evidence synthesis. PLOS ONE, 21(8), e0355474. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0355474

For further information: contact Andri at alexandria.innes@citystgeorges.ac.uk

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Public expectations for effective First Responder communication

Effective public communication during Mass Casualty Incidents (MCI) is essential for safeguarding life, maintaining order, and sustaining trust in emergency responders. Yet, high-pressure, information-scarce environments make this communication challenging.

The mixed methods study, Insights into Public Attitudes for Effective First Responder Communication during a Simulated Mass Casualty Incident, developed by VISION researcher Darren Cook (City St George’s University of London) and colleagues, examines public preferences for communication from emergency services during MCIs, drawing on data from a large-scale immersive training exercise.

Participants either completed a structured survey assessing the importance of specific communication attributes (N = 217) or participated in qualitative interviews (N = 181). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of questionnaire data identified a broad dimension of desired communicative leadership, with a distinct directive-authoritative dimension emerging for Police and Local Authorities.

Thematic analysis of interview data identified four overarching communication principles:

  1. Communication Strategies
  2. Emotional and Psychological Support
  3. Proactivity and Efficiency
  4. Building Trust and Resilience

Findings converge on a central requirement: effective communication during MCIs must balance clear, authoritative direction with transparent, empathetic engagement. Members of the public expect responders to provide both honest prognostic information and reassurance that acknowledges emotional needs.

This work highlights the need for emergency services to adopt a nuanced communication model that integrates leadership, clarity, and emotional intelligence. Embedding these principles into training and operational doctrine may enhance public cooperation, trust, and resilience during future large-scale emergencies.

To download the article: Insights into Public Attitudes for Effective First Responder Communication during a Simulated Mass Casualty Incident

To cite: Cook, D., Waring, S., Humann, M. & Alison, L. J. (2026). Insights into Public Attitudes for Effective First Responder Communication during a Simulated Mass Casualty Incident. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14685973.

For further information: contact Darren at darren.cook@citystgeorges.ac.uk

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Doing co-analysis justice: Guiding principles

Our inspiration to create principles for co-analysis with those with lived experience of the criminal justice system stemmed from a previous participatory project which prompted conversation about the benefits and challenges of doing co-analysis ‘properly’. This project asked what does best practice look like and how can those with lived experience effectively take part?

Participatory or co-produced research is increasingly common. However, people with lived experience tend to be involved in the earlier and/or latter stages of research projects and less so in the nitty gritty middle stage. Therefore, VISION and Revolving Doors’ staff and lived experience team members collaborated to develop guidelines to inform the co-analysis process. These principles were created to support the flourishing landscape of research involving people with lived experience in the analysis and interpretation of results, equipping teams with guidance to facilitate meaningful and positive co-analysis.

The principles are organised into six themes:

  1. Supporting diversity in co-analysis
  2. Prioritise emotional safety and support
  3. Address power, hierarchy and tokenism to ‘level the playing field’
  4. Relationship building and team dynamics
  5. Training and shared learning
  6. Experiment with creative methods and outputs

Inspired by this last theme, accompanying the principles is a co-designed illustration that visually represents some of the ideas shared. The image is above and also available for download below.

This resource is for researchers, regardless of background and experience, and practitioners and managers who work with people with lived experience of the issues being studied. The principles will also be useful for those with an interest in teaching or training co-production methods, and anybody involved in the funding or ethical review of research projects embedding lived experience expertise.

We are keen to know how the principles work in practice. If you use them to guide your work, we warmly welcome feedback on how helpful you found them. Please let Annie know at annie.bunce@citystgeorges.ac.uk.

To read the guidance: Doing co-analysis justice: Guiding principles

To find out more about the project: Exploring guiding principles for ‘Doing Co-Analysis Justice’

To find out more about Revolving Doors’ work: Revolving Doors – Breaking the cycle of crisis and crime

With thanks to the following individuals and organisations who co-developed the principles:

  • Revolving Doors: Lauren, Anthony, Charlotte, Charlie, De’Qeon, Jeanette, Leigh, Lucy, Mark, Rimona, Tony and Warren.
  • Dr Annie Bunce, VISION consortium, City St George’s University of London
  • Dr Danica Darley, University of Sheffield
  • Dr Elizabeth (Lizzie) Cook, VISION consortium, City St George’s University of London
  • Dr Les Humphreys, VISION consortium, University of Lancashire
  • Professor Sian Oram, VISION consortium, Kings College London
  • Dr Polina Obolenskaya, VISION consortium, City St George’s University of London
  • Professor Sally McManus, VISION consortium, City St George’s University of London

Illustration from Jenny Leonard Art

Disability and intimate partner violence in England: Gender stratified analyses

By Dr Ladan Hashemi, VISION Senior Research Fellow 

Disabled people are widely recognised as being at heightened risk of gender-based violence, and intimate partner violence (IPV) is one of its most common forms. Yet few prior random probability sample surveys in England have examined the full range of IPV (physical, sexual, psychological, and economic abuse) across different types of impairment, for both women and men. 

Existing research in this area has tended to rely on small, service-based samples rather than the general population, to focus on women only, and to treat “any IPV” as a single outcome rather than distinguishing between different forms of abuse. This matters because different forms of IPV have very different risk profiles and levels of visibility, and because without a general population sample of both genders, it isn’t possible to say whether disability affects men and women’s risk in the same way. 

To address this, together with my co-authors Dr Hannah Manzur, Dr Annie Bunce, and Professor Sally McManus, all VISION researchers, we used the 2014 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey, a nationally representative survey of 7,546 adults in England, to examine the 12-month prevalence of four types of IPV among people with and without four types of impairment: physical health conditions, sensory impairment, learning impairment, and restricted activities of daily living (ADLs). We tested the same disability types and IPV types for men and women, using models adjusted for age, ethnicity, marital status, and socioeconomic factors. 

Disabled women had almost twice the odds of experiencing psychological IPV, and around two and a half times the odds of experiencing sexual IPV, in the past year compared to non-disabled women. No significant difference was found for physical IPV. Women with a learning impairment reported the highest rates of IPV overall (around one in five had experienced some form of abuse in the past year), and women with restricted ADLs were at particularly high risk of economic abuse. For men, using the same measures and models, we found no significant differences in IPV risk between disabled and non-disabled men. 

This gendered pattern is consistent with the wider evidence base on IPV, in which women experience more frequent and more coercive forms of abuse than men, and it suggests that disability compounds this risk specifically for women. Disabled women’s risk was concentrated in the less visible forms of abuse (psychological and sexual, rather than physical), which points to a real gap: safeguarding responses attuned mainly to physical harm may be missing much of what disabled women experience. Isolation, dependency on a partner for care, and barriers to disclosure are all likely to play a part. 

The lack of a significant association for men may reflect several factors. Our sample of disabled men reporting IPV was relatively small, particularly for sexual IPV, which widens the uncertainty around these estimates. Disability may also interact with stigma and barriers to disclosure for men differently than for women, and the broader evidence base on men’s experiences of IPV, disabled or not, remains much thinner than for women. Further research with larger samples of disabled men would help clarify this pattern. 

These findings support investment in violence prevention programmes specifically designed for disabled women, particularly those with learning impairments or multiple impairments, and highlight the need for routes to disclosure that don’t rely on abuse being physically visible. They also point to the importance of coordination between domestic abuse services, disability support services, and health and social care, particularly where a partner also provides care. 

To download the article: Disability and intimate partner violence in England: Gender stratified analyses of a probability sample survey

To cite: Hashemi, L., Manzur, H., Bunce, A. et al. Disability and intimate partner violence in England: Gender stratified analyses of a probability sample survey. BMC Public Health (2026). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-026-28489-5

For further information, contact: Ladan at ladan.hashemi@citystgeorges.ac.uk

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Temporal trends in teenage relationship abuse among Welsh adolescents

Teenage relationship abuse (TRA) includes physical, emotional and sexual abuse in young people’s intimate relationships and is a growing public health concern. TRA has significant associations with other risk markers including (cyber)bullying, sexting and substance use, as well as negative short and long-term health and social consequences. It affects young people under 16 but remains largely invisible in national data. This study examines temporal trends (a pattern in data that shows how something changes over time) in TRA prevalence among Welsh adolescents and the age gradient in TRA by school year group.

The research team, led by VISION Senior Research Fellow Ruth Weir (City St George’s UoL), and  her consortium colleagues, Niels Blom (University of Manchester) and Polina Obolenskaya (City St George’s) and Katy Barrow-Grint (City St George’s) and Edna Ogada and Honor Young (Cardiff University), provide the first temporal trends in TRA among under 16-year-olds.

Data from four survey years (2017, 2019, 2023, 2025) of the Welsh School Health Research Network (SHRN) Student Health and Wellbeing Survey (SHWS) were analysed, comprising 345,796 pupils aged 11–16 from all maintained secondary schools in Wales. TRA victimisation and perpetration were measured using six items.

The team’s analysis confirms that TRA victimisation and perpetration remain prevalent among 11- to 16 year-olds. TRA among adolescents in Wales increased between 2017 and 2023 before declining in 2025, with a mixed pattern. The exception is emotional victimisation which both rose faster and remained at increased levels. Across the four survey years, one in five pupils reported TRA victimisation and one in eight reported perpetration. All six TRA outcomes increased between 2017 and 2023 before declining in 2025.

By 2025, any victimisation and physical perpetration had returned to 2017 levels; emotional victimisation remained elevated; and other outcomes fell below 2017 levels. A key finding across all four survey years is the bidirectional nature of TRA in under 16s. Sole perpetration is rare, most perpetrators are also victims, which challenges a more simplistic victim/perpetrator binary. Study findings have direct implications for prevention – interventions that separate young people into victim and perpetrator groups may therefore be inappropriate for this age group. 

Recommendation

Universal intervention and support are needed before entering secondary school and whilst in attendence. Any intervention should recognise the bidirectional nature of abuse among this age group.

To download the article: Temporal Trends in Teenage Relationship Abuse Among Welsh Adolescents: Analysis of the Student Health and Wellbeing Survey, 2017-2025

To cite: Weir, Ruth and Blom, Niels and Obolenskaya, Polina and Ogada, Edna and Barrow-Grint, Katy and Young, Honor, Temporal Trends in Teenage Relationship Abuse Among Welsh Adolescents: Analysis of the Student Health and Wellbeing Survey, 2017-2025 (June 23, 2026). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=6982259

For further information, contact: Ruth at ruth.weir@citystgeorges.ac.uk

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